PentaVision's "What's Your Story?" Blog

SWAG:  Stuff we all get, souvenirs wearables and gifts, (or whatever you call it), free stuff (as I call it) is good.

Debate all you want whether it works or not but I can tell you, you give me something and I will wear it or use it. I was recently on location shooting a project for Vista Host in Nashville and I was wearing my favorite Zacuto tee shirt. A guy walked up to me and started asking about what we were doing and then asked me what Zacuto was. I told him about their company and the next day, he tracked me down and told me he had found something he had been looking for on their website. A guy from Indiana (me) plus another from Tennessee equaled an order for a company in Chicago – all from a tee shirt.

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I’ve been in television since it was black and white (well, the reruns were), and have been producing commercials and videos for over twenty-five years. One question I always hear from on-camera, nonprofessional and some professional talent is “What should I wear?” In the interest of creating a video that’s visually appealing and looks professional, I have put together some tips on what to wear on camera. I hope this helps:

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Last time I raised some questions that marketing decision-makers needed to think about and answer in order to make effective online videos for their brand.  Today I’ll offer some answers to some of the questions you should ask in planning a video.

Last time I mentioned several questions to address.  Among them:

• Does the audio involve an on-camera spokesperson or narrator?  Both have their benefits and drawbacks.

• Do you need to incorporate people to interview on camera?  If so, where will those interviews be conducted?  Is it a controlled environment, free of sound and traffic disruptions?

• What are the interview questions to be asked?  Who will ask them?

• What is being shown visually while the audio is being heard?

• If it is a technical video, what is the best way to demonstrate the key points?

• If it is a service video, how do you show this service being performed?

• Will you have someone within your organization capture the audio and video or will you hire a professional producer?

Once you’ve answered these (and other) questions, it’s time to talk production.  The first thing I try to stress to clients is that, although you may be shooting a video for the web, you can’t just go out and shoot a bunch of things and then make something out of it in post production.  You need a plan.

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Why is it you can have a light on for the entire time you’re setting up and blocking a shot but right when someone calls “Action!” the lamp burns out? How can it be that when you look away from the viewfinder for a split second, when you look back, there’s a car parked in your perfectly-framed shot? Who thought it would be a “cute setup” to have a dog AND a child? With lines? If that last take was “perfect,” why are we doing it again? How come when you just start getting to the usable portion of a great interview, the battery warning light flashes ugly red?

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This is the first of a two-part series on producing online videos. Here, I will raise questions that help marketing decision-makers make memorable and effective online videos for their brand. Today we’ll discuss some basic pre-planning questions to ask yourself and those on your team in preparation of producing a video. Part Two will offer solutions to some of the questions you should ask in planning a video.

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Quality or quantity. You’ve heard these words used to describe plenty of things; work, products, food and even people. In the world of digital media production, they are often used to describe one very important element; light. Yes, light. Brightness. Radiance.  Illumination. Without quantity, it becomes a project for radio. Without quality, it becomes an average, ordinary, just like everybody else looking video.

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